Oprah turns on author who embellished his memoir

The American talk show host Oprah Winfrey has angrily upbraided the author James Frey, whose memoir of drug abuse she previously promoted on her book club, following revelations that he had extensively embellished sections of it.

Frey's memoir, A Million Little Pieces, became an overnight literary sensation after Winfrey recommended it last year, describing it as "like nothing you've ever read before". He made a second appearance on her show yesterday, and listened in silence as the occasionally tearful host accused him of "embarrassing and disappointing" her.

In his memoir, Frey claimed to have spent three months in jail. When allegations first emerged that he had exaggerated his criminal record, Winfrey made a surprise call to Larry King's CNN show in support of him, in which she called the alleged fabrications "much ado about nothing". But yesterday, to the delight of her viewers, she made a sharp about-turn, telling Frey that she felt "duped", and accusing him of "betray[ing] millions of readers." Frey was met with a barrage of groans, gasps and boos when he confessed that certain facts and characters had been "altered" for inclusion in the memoir. He admitted that he had been jailed for just a few hours, rather than (as he initially claimed) 87 days, and went on to say that he had made mistakes and lied.

However, he insisted that the essence of his memoir, which deals mainly with his period in rehab, was real. "I don't think it is a novel," Frey said of the book, which was first offered to publishers as fiction. "I still think it's a memoir."

Following her phone call to Larry King Live earlier this month, Winfrey's seeming indifference to the veracity of Frey's book led to intense criticism and a stream of angry posts on her website. Yesterday, she said that she regretted the phone call, and admitted that she had made a mistake. "I left the impression that the truth does not matter, and I am deeply sorry about that," she told her audience. "That is not what I believe. To everyone who has challenged my position, you are absolutely right."

In a statement issued after the show, the book's publisher, Doubleday, who had initially dismissed the allegations as not worth looking into, said it had "sadly come to the realisation that a number of facts have been altered and incidents embellished". From now on, it said, an author's note and a publisher's note would be sent to booksellers, who were requested to insert the notes into current editions. Any future printings have been delayed until the notes were included in the actual book. No changes to the text are planned, however, and the book will continue to be classified as a memoir.

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